New Delhi: The Union Government on Thursday informed that at present 43.82 lakhs tonne of buffer stock of various pulses is available under the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) and Price Support Scheme (PSS).
This notification came against the backdrop of the Food crisis and the fear of a shortage of grains amidst global inflation and the war in Ukraine. Quelling the rumours on this, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a statement said that "The government of India’s continuous monitoring and policy decisions has led to stability in the prices of pulses and onion."
"In order to augment the buffer stock, the government has started procurement of 1.00 Lakh tons of imported Tur and 50,000 tons of imported Urad. At present, the Government of India has 43.82 lakhs tonne of buffer stock of various pulses under PSF and PSS," it added.
The ministry said that the centre is keeping a close watch on production, imports, exports and availability of essential commodities. Also, the government has started the procurement of 1.00 LT of imported Tur and 50,000 tonnes of imported urad.
Import of Tur and Urad has been kept under 'Free Category' till 31 March 2023, the ministry added. "Due to continuous monitoring and policy decisions of Central Govt, all India average retail prices of major pulses have been fairly stable since starting of the year, except for normal seasonal price increases", said a statement.
Meanwhile, the Department of Consumer Affairs on 12 August 2022, issued a directive to all the states and UTs to enforce stock disclosure by stockholders of Tur under Section 3(2)(h) and 3(2)(i) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and also to monitor and verify the stocks.
